UW's Coaching Staff Continues Shakeup

Benjamin Worgull

01/04/2012

After reportedly losing only offensive line coach Bob Bostad, news is starting to leak out following the Rose Bowl that the assistant coaching shake up is only beginning, as DelVaughn Alexander has left for Arizona State and linebacker coach Dave Huxtable is reportedly leaving for Pittsburgh.

PASADENA, Calif. - It appears that the University of Wisconsin coaching staff was simply putting on a good face while it addressed the media in preparation for Monday's Rose Bowl. Had all this news leaked before the game, the distraction would have been tenfold greater.

On what started as a day in which many Wisconsin fans were expecting the announcement on the future of Montee Ball, the exodus of the UW's coaching staff appears to have started.

Following the departure of offensive coordinator Paul Chryst and offensive line coach Bob Bostad to Pittsburgh, the University of Wisconsin announced Wednesday that wide receiver coach DelVaughn Alexander is leaving after five seasons for Arizona State and a source indicated to the Wisconsin State Journal that linebacker coach Dave Huxtable, despite telling the paper he was 100 percent staying in Madison last Friday, is also leaving, presumably to Pittsburgh to be the Panthers' defensive coordinator.

As of Wednesday afternoon, all four coaches were no longer listed as UW coaches on the UWBadgers.com website.

It's been an interesting domino effect with Todd Graham bolting Pittsburgh for Arizona State after one season. It led to Chryst getting the job, bringing Bostad and Huxtable with him and opening an opportunity for Alexander in Tempe.

A Los Angeles native, Alexander will be spending his third different stint in the Pac 12, previously coaching at Oregon State in 2003 and 2004 and as a graduate assistant at USC from 1995-98. Alexander was hired a temporary basis at Wisconsin and promoted to full time after former UW receivers coach Henry Mason suffered a spinal injury that forced him to retire.

Although a so-so recruiter in Michigan and up-state Ohio, Alexander has received a lot of praise for developing sophomore wide receiver Jared Abbrederis, a former walk-on quarterback who led the Badgers this season with 933 receiving yards and had eight touchdowns.

Huxtable decision to leave a defensive coordinator position at UCF for a position job at Wisconsin raised some eyebrows in the coaching circuit, but UW coach Bret Bielema said throughout the season that he never had as detailed of a linebacker coach. Reportedly, Huxtable was willing to get back into a coordinator role if the right fit arose, and Chryst and Huxtable had become very close in just one year.

As a result, junior linebacker Mike Taylor has a career year, as his 150 tackles were the eighth most in a season in UW history, and sophomore linebacker Chris Borland successfully made the transition from outside to inside linebacker, finishing with 19 tackle for loss, tied for 9th most in a single season in UW history, and tied for sixth in the nation with five forced fumbles.

Prior to the Rose Bowl, it was speculated that Bielema was planning to hire a quarterback coach and another offensive coach with play calling experience, as no coach on UW's staff has experience in either area. Should Bielema bypass Rudolph, who was announced as Bostad's replacement as the offensive line coach, there is talk that Rudolph could leave for Pittsburgh. Rudolph is close to Chryst and reportedly has an offer at Pitt.